Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for sorting and removing fruits in a case where the collected fruits such as mandarin oranges are rotten or nonstandard.
Related Art
When collected fruits such as mandarin oranges arrive at a fruit sorting place, the fruits flow to a fruit sorting apparatus configured by a conveyance device. In an upstream process, the fruit sorting apparatus sorts and removes rotten fruits and nonstandard fruits having nonstandard sizes or shapes so as not to allow them to flow to a downstream process. Usually, such a sorting operation is manually performed by about four to eight workers through visual observation.
However, such a sorting process is performed by individual workers determining the degree of a rotten state or the degree of a nonstandard shape or size of each of fruits. Accordingly, non-uniformity of the accuracy can easily occur. In addition, it takes too long for the sorting process, and there are also cases where rotten fruits and nonstandard fruits that have been overlooked from the sorting process are transferred to the downstream process.
In addition, the population engaging in the agricultural industry decreases year by year, and most of the workers are aging. Currently, while there is a problem of labor shortage, a further challenging situation is expected in the years to come.
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to automate the process of sorting rotten fruits and nonstandard fruits and to improve the sorting accuracy, the sorting efficiency, and the stability of the sorting operation.